ministry reflections - Geneva Fellowship Home

MINISTRY REFLECTIONS
2010
Celebrating 35 Years of Ministry
Geneva House
182 Frontenac St
Kingston, ON
The Home of Geneva Fellowship
Since 1994
Thank you
for taking the time to celebrate 35 years of campus ministry with us. Geneva Fellowship has
had a long history of witness and discipleship at Queen’s University and we believe that this is
a testament to God’s love for the campus. As we compiled this retrospective look at the ministry over the past three and a half decades, we were impressed again and again by how God
has impacted the lives of so many people who have been part of our fellowship, many who are
now impacting others for Christ in their various spheres of Kingdom service.
Our mission at Queen’s is to
Draw the campus to CHRIST,
Draw it into COMMUNITY,
and to draw out the CALLINGS of the people and the institution.
We see ourselves as agents of God’s redeeming work to
transform his creatures and his creation to the full glory
that he intended, and we are excited about our Kingdom
role. It is an amazing gift to be able to invest in the lives of
undergrads, grads, faculty, and staff, and it is also an
amazing gift to have people like you who support us in our
ministry. We greatly value your partnership and God has
been using people like you for over 35 years now to build
this campus ministry and to build his Kingdom. And so
thank you for your role in our ministry. I hope you will enjoy reading this book and the reflections in it that point to
God’s amazing love and faithfulness.
Pastor Steve Kooy
Campus Minister
January 2007–present
CAMPUS MINISTER
REFLECTIONS:
WILLIAM DYKSTRA
(INAUGURAL MINISTER — ON CAMPUS: 1974-1982)
I was glad to be asked to give some reflections on our involvement with Geneva Fellowship at
its beginning 35 years ago, because those years in Kingston bring back some of the happiest
and most rewarding memories for me and my family.It all began with a surprise phone call
from Rev. Peter Borgdorff, then with CRC Home Missions, inviting us to consider coming to
Queen’s. The local church was conscious of the many institutions in Kingston and felt a need
to start a ministry there. They soon realized that ministry to no less than ten institutions was
too broad, so it was decided to focus on the university, but not to forget the prisons – 10% of
ministry time should be devoted there. As it happened, the Lord had prepared me a bit for
the latter by getting me involved in prison visitation at a local prison camp near Maple Ridge,
BC, where I was in my first congregation. So, after receiving the call to campus ministry, we
moved to Kingston in the fall of 1974.
Where to begin? As it turned out, things began to fall into place very quickly. The shape
our ministry was going to take for our eight years there all emerged within the first two
months – mostly without my doing. Some CRC students had started a Bible study group and we
developed that into our first student fellowship to which we invited newcomers and other
campus contacts. Next, the staff intern with the Intervarsity Christian Fellowship left to become a church pastor and IVCF invited me to come on board as an associate staff member.
The $1 annual salary didn’t go far, but I was enriched in many other ways through IVCF’s extensive campus experience and its resources, one of which is the Ontario Pioneer Camp near
Port Sydney, location of many of our campus retreats over the years. The Queen’s chapter of
IVCF drew about 100 students into weekly Bible Study groups and mass assemblies in Grant
Hall. Of course, these two ministry groups overlapped often.
The third ―leg‖ of our ministry stool began at a Christmas social in the Grey House. I
met Rev. Ron Nash, then Ontario Regional Chaplain with Corrections Canada, and asked if he
had any advice for getting me to spend that 10% of my time in prison. He said he’d be happy
to ―introduce‖ me to a Tuesday inmate discussion group he was leading at Colin’s Bay,
since he was short a chaplain there. I didn’t
know he meant it literally: he introduced me
to the group and then left. For the next 8
years it was my group. That’s how the prison
side of our work started, though it also involved me in leading chapel services, bringing
in volunteers, and inmate counselling.
The campus ―stool‖ in time became a four-legged chair with the addition of a Christian
Faculty reading/discussion group. We met one a week over lunch to read and discuss chapters
of a selected book. The meetings were not only good learning times, they were also a great
encouragement to Christian faculty, who discovered they had Christian colleagues at Queen’s
who often became valued friends. One of the memories that I still treasure is my involvement
with the United Church seminary students at QTC. Its principal invited me to teach their NT
Greek course, a requirement for all their students; joining the faculty opened other doors on
campus.
As a family we are deeply thankful to the Lord for our campus years. Ginny often
hosted student groups and individuals at our home for meals and Bible studies. The occasional
campus worship events also involved them and Ginny frequently provided the music. Throughout, the Kingston CRC
was wonderfully supportive and made a warm and welcoming
church home for us, something we still draw on during summer visits. We served two other congregations after leaving
Queen’s and I spent the last five years before retirement as a
prison chaplain again, this time at Beaver Creek Institution
near Gravenhurst. The things I learned on campus have greatly
helped my other ministries.
35 years!
Thanks be to God for your
CAMPUS MINISTER
REFLECTIONS:
BILL VANGRONINGEN
(ON CAMPUS: 1982-1998)
I’ll never forget the phone call from Dr. Bill Kamphuis offering me the campus minister position at Queen’s University. Despite my inexperience and American citizenship, he said the
committee had decided to take a risk and offer me the position because even after scraping
the bottom of the barrel, no other candidate could be found. I gladly accepted and we immigrated to Canada on Oct 7, 1982.
The search committee, and the people of First CRC, welcomed us warmly, as did Rev.
Dr. Sel Caradus, the Anglican chaplain on campus. As soon as we were able, we began to rent
space for a ministry center on campus, and to create our ―brand‖ identity. Student fellowship
suppers, hosted by local church families, were the anchoring event in those early years. We
also joined with other Ontario CRC campus ministries for annual student retreats, and slowly
began to develop a partnership on campus with InterVarsity and the other Christian student
groups. Student bible studies, campus worship
services, and book studies became regular semester programs. Graduate student bible studies and colloquia followed, as well as a faculty
bible study. The endowed Geneva Lecture Series was launched with Dr. N. Wolterstorff as
the inaugural speaker, and has since hosted
many acclaimed Reformed academics.
By the 90’s we were getting regular reports that our rental space would be torn down
in favour of a major campus building, so when
the property on Frontenac was listed, I immediately wondered how impossible (but wonderful)
it would be purchase that building. In a radical
act of faith, we purchased the building, began an intense period of fundraising (beard-shaving
shenanigans and all!), and were overjoyed by the dedicated volunteers who completely rehabbed the place, and settled in.
In 1997 I began work supporting CRC campus ministry across North America, still working 20% at Geneva Fellowship until 1999.
What I remember most vividly are students arriving on campus (just 4 or 5 years out of
8th grade), who grew in faith and maturity and capability with us at Queen’s, and then left to
become leaders in God’s kingdom in all kinds of service (law, church, politics, business, missions, education, etc., etc.). They are now found across Canada and literally around the
world. Geneva Fellowship inspired new campus ministries, and demonstrated the strategic
impact of campus ministry for the Church’s vitality in the years to come.
THE MOVE TO GENEVA HOUSE
In 1993 the move to the Frontenac Street began. On November 12 of that year Bill VanGroningen viewed the house and property, followed by a second viewing a week later. The
space was deemed suitable and strategic for
campus ministry work, and within three days an
offer was made. Other offers were made and
initially accepted, but finally on November 27
enough funding was in place to proceed with the
purchasing of the property for Geneva Fellowship. First Christian Reformed Church of Kingston formed a committee, initially consisting of
Tim Minnema, Stuart VanderMeer, Dan Wyngaarden, Bill VanGroningen, and Peter Van Dyke,
to support and oversee the purchasing, as well
as handle future upgrades and upkeep. On January 14, 1994, the house on Frontenac Street officially became ―Geneva House‖.
CAMPUS MINISTER
REFLECTIONS:
PHIL APOL
(ON CAMPUS: 1999-2005)
Congratulations on the 35th anniversary of the Geneva campus ministry!
I was blessed to be part of the mission to Queen's from 1998-2005, which were years of continuity and transition on campus. We loved our life in Kingston; these were very good years for
us as a family, and we remember them with gratitude to God.
Due to the timing of our hiring and the complications of crossing the Canadian border, I
arrived on campus in September and was scrambling to get my bearings in a new country, and
a new ministry, as term was beginning. I remember walking down Union St. with Perry one
afternoon that first week and asking him about "soup supper," which I had read was part of
the weekly ministry schedule. "Well, who cooks the soup?" I asked. "Why, you do," he replied.
And so I did--or, I should say, we did, because my wife Shari was the hospitality in all of the
ministry that involved food, which on campus is most of the ministry. We cooked and served
the soup every week during term for those 7 years, and in doing so were reminded that hospitality is the doorway to God's grace. Many students came and went through those doors during
those years; they sat and ate, laughed and shared, some even cried. God was always the host,
and we were privileged to be part of serving crew.
The other memorable continuity in those years was the Geneva Lecture Series, which
offered some truly memorable moments--maybe, above all, Barry Moser's visit in 2001, which
was announced by a display of his King James' BIble woodcut prints in the atrium of Stauffer
Library weeks before his lecture. Moser was colorful, controversial, and thought-provoking--on
the edge, in many ways--but his lecture brought together a group of folks who would not otherwise be found together, including many who would never darken the door of a church. His
visit embodied the heart of campus ministry for me: that God's common grace precedes us in
places, persons, and ways we do not understand or control, but can always share in and be
blessed by.
Two big signs of ministry transition stand out in my memory from those years. First, the
campus committee and I responded to the need
to reshape Geneva's identity on campus as
more than InterVarsity's exclusive partner--and
we did this. One of the fruits of this was bringing Jean Vanier back to Kingston in 2004, to a
packed audience, an effort requiring the much
broader ecumenical partnership. The other
transition was to a bigger space at Geneva
House, in the addition you all now enjoy. One
of my mentors said to me once, "ministry is like
building a house--it always takes more money,
time, and effort than you ever imagined." In
this case, we kept to the budget, but the part
about time and effort proved true. The committee--Larry Fenniak and Jason Pridmore, in
particular--devoted hours of pro bono time to
seeing the building addition completed. I left
before the final outdoor touches were finished,
but look forward to seeing them someday.
In the end, ministry like this is measured, as St.
Paul wrote, in the lives and names; they are what I remember best and will treasure the most: Jon, Tasha,
Jason, Jeannette, Irwin, Will, David, Leo, Joan, Yolande,
Dean, Rosemary, Dennis, Marguerite, Norm, and many
others. "You yourselves are our letter," Paul wrote,
"written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. You
show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our
ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the
living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts" (2 Cor. 3:2,3).
STUDENT LEADERSHIP
Back row: Adam Veenstra, Josh Hoddenbagh, Simone Enns, Gerald Kaswarra
Middle Row: Deanne van Tol, Kimberley Visser, Anneke Timan,
Hannah Thommy, Mike Kottelenberg
Front Row: Rebecca Bates, Natalie Wong, Pastor Steve Kooy
Over the past few years, intentional student leadership development has emerged as
one of main ministry areas. Our student leadership program encompasses three key aspects
of leadership development—Study, Soul, and Service. This model is lived out by our student
leadership team, who take time each week to study and discuss leadership principles, pray for
the ministry, and commit to an area of service.
This model of working together with each doing their part has been an amazing blessing
to the ministry over the past few years as it continues to grow. We are so thankful for what
God is doing in and through the lives of these students!
SOUP SUPPER
For many people at Queen’s University,
Wednesday night means ―Soup Supper!‖ This
hour and a half dinner at Geneva House provides
more than just food, but fellowship, as well.
One of the ministry’s largest programs, it is a
concrete and practical opportunity for Geneva
Fellowship to illustrate Christ’s love for His people by meeting those 2 basic needs.
Colossians 3:12 says to ―put on then, as
God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness,
and patience.‖ Soup Supper becomes a way for
those involved in the ministry to put into practice what we learn in Scripture. Our goal is for
the students, staff, and faculty of Queen’s to
see the compassion and love of Christ at Geneva
House every Wednesday night. With so many students weighted with the pressures of school
and life away from home, the Geneva
team seeks to foster an environment
that students can feel comfortable in.
It is a chance for the ministry to connect during a busy week of programming, but also for people of all backgrounds to fellowship alike and build
relationships with one another.
Building community is the essence of
Soup Supper, and it is what the team
strives for each week. Whether it is
someone’s first time out, or they are one of our regulars, we hope that they will walk away
having felt welcomed and embraced. The food is prepared not only by the student leadership
team, but also by volunteers from the local churches, in the hope that further connections
beyond the walls of Geneva, and the perimeters of campus might be made.
It is truly amazing, and truly a gift, to stand back every Wednesday night and see God at work
in people gathered around the table at Soup Supper. The people are different ages, in different faculties, and from widely different backgrounds, but it is our prayer that God will be present in the lives of each one of them, and we hope that wherever they are on their journey
with Him, we might be a part of it. A bowl of soup might just be the first step.
UNDERGRAD STUDY
There is a sign hanging in the front hallway of Geneva
House that says ―Welcome Home‖, and it speaks volumes
about the mission of our ministry, and the purpose of our
undergrad study. The first years of a person’s post-secondary
life can be trying; there are many pressures and demands
that come with beginning university and living on your own
for the first time. So whether a student is in first or fourth
year, from Sydenham or Uganda, it seems that what we are all looking for is a place to call
―home‖. That is the mission of Geneva Fellowship.
Besides giving students a living room to relax in, and a fireplace to sit by during the
cold Kingston winters, the undergrad program at Geneva seeks to give undergraduate students
a family of believers to connect with on their journey at Queen’s University. The group meets
every Tuesday evening to study different aspects of the Bible and spiritual development, and
as the weeks pass, it does not take long for real community to form. The group itself has
grown and changed; there have been many different studies, many different ways of doing
those studies, and the constant turnover of students each year has meant that every
September we must redefine ourselves. As a group that seems to change as often a
as what we study, the dynamic is always vibrant and fresh.
Geneva’s approach to ministry is relational, and so no matter how the undergrad study
might change and evolve, at its core is a community of undergrad students and the relationships they form. It is always amazing to see someone who after a few weeks’, or even a few
months’, absence, can return and have it feel as though they have never left at all. There are
many social and academic demands on an undergrad student, many of whom are facing the
added pressures of living on their own for the first time, and so it is not always easy to fit a
weekly meeting into the already-hectic schedule. But the undergrad group is a family. It
strives to be a safe place: a vital part of the campus and yet also a haven from its difficulties
and demands. Our prayer is that the lights on in the living room every Tuesday night would
also be a light to the community of Queen’s University.
GRAD STUDY
The grad study that meets for Geneva
Fellowship’s grad study each week is made up of
a wide variety of graduate students from many
faculties, as well as working post-grads. The
study itself has taken the form of both book and
Bible studies, and the variety of backgrounds and
interests make for intellectual, theological, and
practical discussion. In addition to the traditional
weekly study, this year the group has begun a
new ―prayer buddy initiative‖: each week participants are paired and encouraged to send emails to each other, meet to discuss concerns and praise, and keep each other in prayer. This
new initiative is a natural next step for this community.
The group is tailored towards the needs of graduate students, who are unique in their
academic career at Queen’s. Graduate life can often be transient, especially due to the many
one-year MA programs. Students are often new to Kingston and to Queen’s, and are looking to
settle quickly into their new community; one of the aims of the grad study is to provide that
community. The study is usually kept casual, to help foster burgeoning relationships, which
are often taken beyond the academic realm, and into the personal and social lives of the
students.
Within the study, books of the Bible and works by
contemporary Christian authors form the basis of
discussion, equipping the members with Biblical
foundations for contemporary application. It provides a space to discuss issues relevant to being a
Christian in many different fields, and forms a support system to help consider ―next steps‖ into
those fields.
FACULTY STUDY
Every Friday morning at 8:00 we gather in the front room at Geneva House. Not quite
twelve disciples, for whom the delight of seeking God’s presence in weekly struggle with a
Bible chapter just manages to overcome the challenge of the early hour, we come with our
questions and our need to be challenged, encouraged, and renewed.
Every profession has challenges particular to it, and each Christian believer needs to
determine both personally and in community how her Christian faith should be expressed in
her work. This is true, especially, for university faculty members, who are immersed in a professional environment that asks where thought will lead, but insists that this search cannot be
informed by religious belief or practice. It is an environment that is often hostile to religious
faith, especially of the Christian variety.
The Faculty Bible study has run continuously for about 25 years. It began soon after Bill
Van Groningen became campus pastor, when we started meeting weekly in the Windmills restaurant, which was then located at the intersection of Division and Princess. In 1986we moved
the meetings to Geneva Fellowship’s first home, a rented house at 104 Queen’s Crescent (now
Bader Lane) close to the corner with Albert Street. We met in the living room of that little
house until the Geneva ministry moved into its own Geneva House.
Many faculty members have been involved in the Geneva Fellowship Faculty Bible study at one
time or other, and for many that hour of discussion is the highlight of the week. We are like a
group of fisher men and women who decide at the beginning of each term which Bible book to
cast our nets in; we then trawl through it chapter by chapter. Each meeting begins with a reading of the week’s passage, after which one of us
provides a short summary and a few questions.
Over a cup of fresh coffee we then discuss those
questions or drift into others that come to mind
during the discussion. All experiences, challenges, beliefs and doubts, are welcomed as we
struggle with the text hauled in that day. We
have studied nearly every book of the
Bible at some point, and some many times
over. Over-fishing is not an issue it seems,
for every time we return to a book we see
new things in it.
We are an eclectic mix, brought together not by the similarity of our disciplines or church backgrounds, but very
much by a desire to know what it means to
walk the way of Jesus in our respective disciplines. When some of us cannot come for a term
because of timetable conflict or absence from Kingston, we miss their contributions. And
when I reflect on other Christian brothers and sisters on the Queen’s faculty who do not feel
free to come to our studies, I sometimes wonder wistfully about the gifts they would bring to
our discussion; and occasionally, whether they know what they are missing.
APOLOGETICS STUDY
Some of the greatest minds of the past two thousand
years have devoted a large part of their lives to contemplating, studying and explaining the great mysteries inherent to Christianity. Why did they feel the need to develop the understanding of Christianity? Perhaps they
knew the importance of developing reasoned defences
for our great doctrines not only to convince ourselves
that what we believe is in fact true, but ultimately to
remove the barriers in the minds of nonbelievers to convince them of the saving grace of Christ.
Most would agree that today’s world is as hostile to
Christianity, if not more so, than the world in which
many of these apologists lived, and it is hard to find a more hostile setting than a secular university. Queen’s University is no exception to this. Students and professors alike are constantly challenging Christianity on the grounds that it is illogical, mystical, unfair, or simply
an ancient myth. Many Christian students are often intimidated by what they hear from their
peers and teachers, and are surprised by the points raised because they have never been
taught to properly defend against what are in reality common attacks or misconceptions. It is
vital for the Christian student in a secular environment to understand their faith well enough
not to be swayed by the challenges from the enemy, and to be able to combat those challenges with love, passion, and reason. It was with this mindset that we here at Geneva Fellowship felt the need to set up a study on apologetics for the 2009-2010 school year.
We started the study in the middle of the first semester, with about ten people committing for the next six months. Each week we would prepare a comprehensive study guide on
the specific topic for that week’s study, outlining each topic of discussion systematically and
thoroughly and then engaging the challenges with various responses based on reason, the Bible, and Christian tradition.
The discussions arising from the study were simply fantastic. To acquire a fuller understanding of the topics we studied it was important to hear different opinions verbally expressed with the opportunity to instantly dialogue and test each other. We had a wide range
of faith backgrounds and perspectives at the study, and this diversity definitely contributed to
very thought-provoking and speech-provoking discussions. Every member of the group had
much to contribute, every member was instrumental in helping the others grow closer to God
in some way or another.
We tried to design the study in a way that the topics logically flowed from one to the
next, from the ―biggest‖ ideas in Christianity to the ―narrowest‖. Our first sessions then were
obviously focused on proofs for God’s existence, moving then to God’s nature, followed by
sessions on the problem of evil; the authority of the Bible; the historical Jesus; the divine Jesus; culminating in death, heaven, hell and salvation. It is quite amazing how Christian doctrine is all so interconnected; as in a game of Jenga that has reached that dreaded precarious
stage, pulling even one block of doctrine away from the stack inevitably results in the entire
tower crashing down.
Yet even with all of the knowledge that we gained from this study, the fact remains
that truth is most tightly intertwined with love: if we cannot relate to people first as loving,
caring friends, then our reasoned answers will count for nothing. We pray that God will put us
in positions of influence among our friends and that they will trust us enough to use those defences of our great faith that we have pored over so eagerly this year. Who knows? Perhaps
the next great apologist ready to take up the mantle from great minds past has been spurred
on by the awesome discussions at Geneva Fellowship’s inaugural Apologetics Study.
WORSHIP TEAM
Over the past couple of years, the Geneva Fellowship worship
team has grown significantly as a part of our ministry. The team
gathers together a number of different students and members of the
Queen’s community to develop and share their musical gifts. It has
been a great leadership opportunity for many, and allows a chance
for its members to learn what it means to invite God to be present
when we worship; setting aside all pride to let God to the work He
has already begun in people’s hearts. The primary opportunities for
the team is to lead worship at a number of different churches across
southeastern Ontario, and connect with the people there. It is always
a humbling experience to lead worship in a new setting, and congregations everywhere from
Brockville to Bloomfield have been incredible partners in ministry, and are always very welcoming to the team. Even when the services do not run as smoothly as planned, there is still a
sense of God working as we worship together: He is used to working with imperfect people,
and the mistakes we might make do not really faze Him at all. In return, as a worship team
we seek to bring all glory to God, and ask that we might be a blessing and encouragement to
the churches we visit.
THE SUMMIT MEETINGS
In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul writes of the Body of Christ. He says that the
church ―has many parts, but all its many parts form one body...God has placed the parts in
the body, every one of them, just as He wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where
would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.‖ So it is with the many Christian ministries here at Queen’s, and the reason for Geneva’s Summit Meetings.
The Summit is one of our newer initiatives, and sets itself apart from our regular programming. Held several times over the course of the year, it is a very intentional approach to
fulfill the ―draw the campus into community‖ aspect of our mission statement. Each meeting
brings together Christian leaders, both student and staff, to share joys and challenges, pray
for one another, and build relationships that encourage growth in the Kingdom work on campus. The goal is to bring unity to the many Christian groups who might differ in focus, but not
in aim.
With so many Christian groups on campus, it would be all too easy for rivalries and unhealthy
competition to emerge. The Summit is then a formalized representation of friendships that
perhaps already exist, while also being a chance to strengthen those friendships and foster
new ones. Geneva Fellowship is not the only Christian community on campus, and the Summit
helps draw us all into the larger community of believers God has formed here at Queen’s.
THE GENEVA LECTURE
Over the years, Geneva House has naturally developed into a home that primarily facilitates ministry to students. As term after term flies by, it is not too difficult to see how this
has been accomplished almost as effectively as it has been effortlessly thanks to a lively core
team, even livelier students, and a committed community.
With the home as our foundation, we are mindful that other obligations exist. Especially for a ministry that gels together easily, it can be far too easy, then, to become hypnotised by the joys of our own laughter within the confines of our own house. For having such a
strong base, the main challenge of Geneva Fellowship may always been the risk in remaining
inwardly focused. To this end, the fellowship must and indeed seeks to engage the community
outwardly. Following a period of transition in the past couple of years, it is no longer early
doors to have a sustained consistent approach to outward ministry fit for our mission. One of
the tried and true ways that we go about this is in hosting the Geneva Lecture.
Suffice to say almost all educational institutions now seek some conception of neutrality in secularity. Naturally, we as Christians are never too pleased with that approach to a
rounded education. So as needs must, Geneva Fellowship hosts the Geneva Lecture series to
provide a Christian frame of reference to educational issues of interest. Since 1991, the ministry has annually hosted a speaker for a talk on those relevant issues that may pertain to a
scholarly community as Queen’s. In the past these issues have included gender issues, human
rights, and global development. We have most recently enjoyed the company Dr. James Peterson, Professor of Theology at McMaster University; Ida Mutoigo, Director of the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee, and Dr. John Stackhouse Jr, Professor of Theology at
Regent College. The series as drawn out and addressed
those topics that pique the interest of the education
community and engage scholarly minds. Through our
speakers, we open discussion in providing a Christian perspective and being mindful of a student body and inquisitive community seeking to make their callings significant
and effective. That is the Geneva Lecture.
GRADUATE REFLECTIONS
Janet Breimer
Program: Education
Hometown: Kingston, ON
―After his resurrection, Jesus Christ spoke with his disciple Peter and,
after confirming Peter’s love for him, gave him the following command:
feed my sheep. Jesus spoke these words directly to Peter, but they communicate the universal message that love for the Son of God is tightly
linked to caring for God’s family. This is a lesson that I believe Geneva Fellowship has fully
embraced as it ministers to the ―sheep‖ at Queen’s and in the city of Kingston. During my
year as a part of the Geneva community, I have witnessed and experienced the care and love
with which the Geneva team tend to God’s family and reach out to the rest of the student
body on campus.
One could say that Geneva takes the call to ―feed‖ God’s family quite literally, hosting
soup suppers every Wednesday night. I am told that my first ties to Geneva Fellowship date
back to when I was a little girl, and my parents would bring me, my sisters, and a pot of soup
to share with the students during the weekly suppers. Now that I have grown, I realize that
the value of the suppers is found beyond the actual food; soup suppers have fed me socially.
After completing my undergraduate degree at a Christian University, I came to Queen’s
this year to obtain my Bachelor of Education. I was mourning the loss of my old school’s Christ
-centred focus and the fellowship that I felt studying among other believers. When my sister,
Lisa, and I began attending the soup suppers, we were delighted by the relaxed, friendly atmosphere that we encountered. Sitting at the long tables every week, surrounded by laughter
and the sweet aroma of meatball soup, I enjoyed the strong sense of community in Geneva
House and met some truly amazing friends.
As well as feeding me socially, Geneva offered nourishment for my spiritual life. Lisa
and I attended ―grad study,‖ one of Geneva’s many Bible studies, on Thursdays. It was such as
blessing to be able to listen to Steve Kooy and my fellow students, whom God has made so
wise. We learned, questioned, and strengthened our faiths together. I appreciated how those
who attended felt free to share and raise their own questions as we discussed, even though
we were a chatty bunch who loved to get off-topic! Though we did not always find simple or
easy answers to our questions, I often left the study feeling like I had gained a deeper understanding of God’s goodness and grace.
Geneva Fellowship helped shape me into a stronger servant of Christ. It was a safehaven for me in a world that often rejected my faith, as friends at Geneva constantly supported and revived me this year. It offered many opportunities and challenges for me to offer
up my gifts to the Lord, serving on the praise team and attempting to make soup for the first
time. It is a testament to the warmth and openness of the people of Geneva that, though I
have only attended Queen’s for one year, I feel exceptionally at home in Geneva House. God
has created a wonderful community there, out of many beautiful people, and I feel so blessed
to have been a part of that community this year.‖
Emily Norman
Program: X-ray Technology
Hometown: Ottawa, ON
―I had heard about Geneva Fellowship back in high school, but never
really got involved until my second year, when I started coming to Soup
Supper. I quickly realized what I had been missing out on, and eagerly
came very week for some great food and even better company; it was easy
to get to know people in the warm, relaxed setting. I had been involved in
several other Christian ministries on campus through my first two years at Queen’s, but coming from a CRC background, by my third year I decided to get more involved with Geneva. I
started coming to their undergrad study on Tuesday nights and, once again, felt welcomed by
both the residents and Steve Kooy, the campus minister who always had a joke or kind word
to say. But it wasn’t just his jokes that kept me coming back: I really valued the sense of
community at our Tuesday night meetings and always appreciated the thought-provoking discussions. I’m glad I was able to be a part of this unique fellowship, and will truly miss Geneva
next year as I leave Kingston and continue my education elsewhere.‖
Josh Hoddenbagh
Campus Ministry Intern
Hometown: Nepean, ON
―It was the best of times…‖
In the case of Geneva House, there is no need to finish that
iconic statement with its famous negative counterpart. It’s simply a
tale of one house here. One very awesome house at that!
I’ve had the extraordinary privilege of being a part of the Geneva community on Queen’s campus for five years. I first arrived at Queen’s a timid, lost little first
year, and through old connections from high school I was introduced to a beautiful old house
one step off of campus. All I knew at the time was that they served me delicious soup, sandwiches and home-baked goods every Wednesday, and I just had to give them a toonie in return (only if they were looking). Eventually I started going to the Tuesday night undergraduate study, though I was shy and a little intimidated by the brilliant theologians surrounding
me.
Then the moment that changed my life happened. Geneva was looking for new residents the following year, and if you have ever seen the third floor residents’ rooms, you’ll
know why I was more than a little excited. I took the room without hesitation. Fast-forward
four years and that room had truly become my home away from home, not just my living
space. Throughout my first few undergrad years Geneva provided me with not only a great
place to live, but a loving community of strong believers who encouraged me in my faith and
always helped out when I needed it.
But things were just getting started. The other moment that changed my life happened
halfway through my second year. Pastor Steve Kooy was interviewed for the vacant Geneva
Campus Minister position. He seemed decent enough during his visit to Geneva, but what did
he have to offer me? Well, I was about to find out as he accepted the position and set up office right underneath my bedroom! There was no escaping Steve now. As it turned out, that
was a good thing! Steve was one of the most open, honest, loving, caring and fun people I
had ever met. It was very easy to become great friends and spiritual companions on this epic
journey of life that we are on. Steve brought a solid foundation to the ministry, and things
took off from there as Geneva became even more of an open place of discussion; and in terms
of discussion, nothing was off limits. In the various studies over the remaining few years of
my undergrad we touched on everything from theology to pop culture, personal applications
to global implications. Discussions at the cafeteria with Steve and many of the Geneva gang
were frequent and stimulating. The boundaries for these informal gatherings were even less
existent than in our studies! My understanding of my personal faith and my place in the world
increased greatly from all of these occasions. At times it seemed that Geneva was a much
larger part of my life than my studies themselves, and this was not completely untrue. I’m
glad it wasn’t.
My time at Geneva was running out, however, as the end of my fourth year approached
rapidly. I had no idea what I was going to do the following year, as I wasn’t looking to start a
career in my field of study just yet. I was chatting with Steve one day when I jokingly asked if
he had a job for me in the upcoming year. We both laughed about creating an intern position
to allow me to serve Geneva for a year and try my hand at campus ministry. In the end it was
no laughing matter. The Geneva committee generously approved of our plan and I was able
to stick around for another year!
As the Geneva Campus Ministry Intern my job description included running the very program that brought me into Geneva all those years ago: Wednesday night Soup Suppers. Apart
from the fact that I had never made soup in my life and I was terrible at delegating appropriately, I guess as a student leadership team we were ready to tackle this most important of
programs! There really was nothing to worry about, as our leadership team of ten was absolutely fantastic in making sure everything was ready, baking each and every week, and cleaning up the first floor every Wednesday night until the place was spotless. By the end, Soup
Supper pretty much ran itself, and we were able to focus on building an awesome inviting atmosphere where (we hope) everyone felt welcome and secure.
Geneva gave me the freedom to choose where I would most like to serve in the ministry, and one of the things I was most excited about was starting a study on apologetics.
Throughout my university career I had seen how Christianity was constantly challenged by
both students and professors. So we hoped to equip current Queen’s students with the ability
to answer for their faith. The study started midway through the first semester, and I am so
thankful that God allowed us the opportunity to learn about the tough doctrines of Christianity that are under attack. I have personally come to see my faith in a whole new light, and I
hope that all of the members of the group have gleaned something useful.
There is so much about this past year that I haven’t even mentioned yet. Undergrad
study, grad study, leadership study, cross-ministry summits and all of the special events have
been simply outstanding.
It is really the people that I’ve met while at Geneva that makes this place so special
though. Ever since I’ve been around there have been such loving, considerate people here,
people whose life and mission is God, which makes the whole ministry just so easy to connect
to. There have been countless memories of awesomeness. From late-night Halo sessions to
sunrise soccer matches, from (disappointing) bowling games to bat defence missions, not to
mention the epic movie nights and hide-and-seek games, there are always great people
around to enjoy your life with. These great people not only enhanced the pure fun and joy in
my life, but they helped me grow in my faith little by little. We all have the option to either
walk the path towards Christ or away from Him, and the people we surround ourselves with
can so easily influence the direction we go. I was fortunate enough to be surrounded with
people who clearly directed me towards our great and loving Saviour, not away.
This time is really it for me. I really do have to move on. I will miss Geneva greatly
and it will always have a part in my heart. I know it will continue on strongly with God’s
blessing as it is in good hands, both divine and earthly. It really was the best of times.
PHOTO ALBUM
Geneva Fellowship wishes to thank all who have supported the
ministry over the past thirty five years:
Classis Quinte & its congregations
Home Missions
First Christian Reformed Church
Westside Fellowship Christian Reformed Church
The Geneva Fellowship Committee
And all the students, staff, faculty, friends, families and supporters who are part of our Geneva Fellowship.
Thank you.
Contact
You can find out more about Geneva by going to
our website geneva.queensu.ca
or by contacting our pastor, Steve Kooy
through e-mail at [email protected]
or by phone at 613-767-9634
Geneva House
182 Frontenac Street
Kingston, Ontario K7L 3S6
http://geneva.queensu.ca